RPM MAGAZINE – May 20, 1978
by J.J. Linden

Warner Bros. album Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, this year’s Juno Award winner as top selling international album, has become the first album in history to ever sell one million units in Canada. The milestone was announced recently by WEA Music of Canada, who noted, “This unprecedented accomplishment of 1,000,000 units not only reflects the unparalleled artistry of Fleetwood Mac, but also reflects the enormous potential of the Canadian market to those who can fully tap it.”

The album was released in February of 1977. At that time, WEA Music quickly implemented a full-scale marketing program, with promotion and sales teams throughout the country working full-force to national exposure gain and visibility for the album. The sales force concentrated on obtaining prominent displays from tiny independents to the largest chain stores. The promotion and publicity team embarked on a virtually unequaled media campaign to break the album in Canada.

The company’s marketing efforts began to pay off almost immediately. Go Your Own Way, the first single released from the album, became a major hit across the coun try. It was followed quickly by three more hit singles, Dreams, Don’t Stop and You Make Lovin’ Fun. As each subsequent hit showed the commercial value of the album, sales began to increase rapidly. WEA’s national promotion manager Larry Green notes, “We were very conscious of the possibility of the album going five or six times platinum by the second single. The Eagles do it and Queen does it – we really saw this thing flying bỳ the second single. By the third single, it was a pretty tremendous growth situation, and by the fourth single…

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